Justice League Days

Since I wanted them I though Katherine would enjoy them, I picked up the other two Justice League DVDs out there, Justice on Trial and Paradise Lost.

Great fun, of course. Each DVD has two arcs in it, each of two episodes:

• In Blackest Night: GL is arrested by the Manhunters for inadvertently destroying a planet — something he confesses to doing. His JL pals try to prove his innocence — and uncover the Deep Dark Plot about to be unleashed. Good action, good characterization, good continuity. Best moments: Hawkgirl wipes the floor with snarky GLs; Manhunters chanting their motto; GL reciting the oath.
• The Enemy Below: Atlantis decides it’s had enough, and Aquaman and the Atlantean army is ready to prove it. But there’s deeper conspiracy going on, and Aquaman may have to make a substantial sacrifice to protect his kingdom and preserve the peace. Decent action, decent characterization, fair continuity. Best moments: Aquaman’s sacrifice; the assassin’s capture and interrogation.

• Paradise Lost: Felix Faust (Robert Englund!) blackmails Wonder Woman and the JL into gathering up pieces of an artifact that will free Hades (John Rhys-Davies) from, well, Hades. Decent action, decent characterization, horrible violence to DC continuity — but who cares? Best moments: Supes and WW duking it out; Batman dressing down Flash for playing with unknown mystic artifacts in Faust’s house (“Don’t touch anything!”) while, in the background, Supes, WW, and Martian Manhunter quietly put down the trinkets they were playing with. Also,

• War World: Supes and Martian Manhunter get kidnapped, and Supes becomes a new star gladiator on Mongul’s War World. Meanwhile, GL and Hawkgirl set out to rescue them. Decent action, fair characterization, decent continuity. Best moments: short-fused Type As GL and Hawkgirl playing the interstaller Bickersons.

The two DVDs are the same price as the premiere “pilot” — but at almost 90 minutes, rather than 60, they’re a better deal. The “extras” are better, too. Both feature enjoyable brief intros to each episode part by Bruce Timm. Justice on Trial has another segment where Timm describes the decisions about which JL members to use, and what went into their animated design, while Paradise Lost has a similar (but less interesting) vignette on villain design.

Both discs have games. Justice on Trial has an “identify the hero” from narrow glimpses of their costumes (Katherine got all of them, except for WW’s blue, starred shorts — “That’s her underwear,” she opined). Paradise Lost has a rather pointless maze game.

Finally, Justice on Trial has a data file on each JLer, including a brief music video. Paradise Lost has similar data files on the bad guys.

Interestingly, Katherine finds it easier to call him “J’onn J’onzz” than “Martian Manhunter.”

Anyway, I’d recommend both DVDs to folks who have enjoyed the animated series (or has kids who do). Good stuff. I hope that they similarly collect the other episodes out there, including the multipart WWII saga, and the Injustice Gang. (The Morgan LaFey and Metamorpho episodes are less memorable, but I wouldn’t mind them being collected, too.)

(For more info on the JL series, JLToonZone is a good start, as is JLAnimated. The second season kicks off in October, and a third season has been all-but-officially-confirmed.)